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| ARM2 Owen D. Huls 1924-1945 |
Born July 9, 1924 in Logan, Ohio, Owen would have been Charley's second cousin, one time removed. (He's my third cousin, once removed.) I don't know if Charley met his infant cousin before his death, but it's possible.
Owen's parents moved with Owen and his sister Marianne to Columbus by 1930, where he lived a typical Ohio boy's life until WWII reared its ugly head. He graduated from Grandview High School in Columbus in 1942, and joined the U.S. Navy and attained the rank of Aviation Radioman Second Class.
Owen's plane was shot down on June 4, 1945 by a Japanese ship and made an emergency landing near the island of Celebes, now known as Sulawesi, Indonesia. On June 6, Owen was captured by the Japanese while he was trying to help a crew mate.
Owen was forced to dig his own grave near the shore line, where he was bound and shot to death by his Japanese captors.
Owen's body was never recovered, but his name is inscribed on the Tablets of the Missing at Manila National Cemetery at Ft. William McKinley, Manila, Philippines. He is also memorialized at Union Cemetery in Columbus, Ohio.
Owen was posthumously awarded the Silver Star, the air medal, and the Purple Heart among other combat medals.
Owen and the other members of his doomed plane are featured in the book, Fatal Error: The Final Flight of a Navy WWII Patrol Bomber, by Gary Cooper. (Owen's sister Marianne cried when she was interviewed for the book because she thought her brother had been forgotten.) I am deeply indebted to Mr. Cooper for writing about yet another cousin of family legend.
Owen's parents moved with Owen and his sister Marianne to Columbus by 1930, where he lived a typical Ohio boy's life until WWII reared its ugly head. He graduated from Grandview High School in Columbus in 1942, and joined the U.S. Navy and attained the rank of Aviation Radioman Second Class.
Owen's plane was shot down on June 4, 1945 by a Japanese ship and made an emergency landing near the island of Celebes, now known as Sulawesi, Indonesia. On June 6, Owen was captured by the Japanese while he was trying to help a crew mate.
Owen was forced to dig his own grave near the shore line, where he was bound and shot to death by his Japanese captors.
Owen's body was never recovered, but his name is inscribed on the Tablets of the Missing at Manila National Cemetery at Ft. William McKinley, Manila, Philippines. He is also memorialized at Union Cemetery in Columbus, Ohio.
Owen was posthumously awarded the Silver Star, the air medal, and the Purple Heart among other combat medals.
Owen and the other members of his doomed plane are featured in the book, Fatal Error: The Final Flight of a Navy WWII Patrol Bomber, by Gary Cooper. (Owen's sister Marianne cried when she was interviewed for the book because she thought her brother had been forgotten.) I am deeply indebted to Mr. Cooper for writing about yet another cousin of family legend.
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